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By MICHELLE STl DEBAKER
Arcom Newspapers Writer
Once wives were purchased, paid tor with dowries which, along with the new bride, became the husband's property.
Dowries eventually became as archaic as hoop skirts, but until very recently, many women assumed that marriage meant communal ownership of the assets they contributed.
Now, as women become more financially independent and the number of second and third marriages increases, many couples are searching for ways to avoid the traditional mingling of assets expected with marriage.
They often seek legal counsel, and opt for the increasingly common premarital agreement.
Michael Hobert, a Clarke County lawyer who has helped couples create premarital contracts, feels that, although there are valid reasons for initiating such an agreement, many couples are uncomfortable with the idea.
“A lot of people feel it’s like admitting defeat before you’ve even tried to make the marriage work,” Hobert says. “But the agreements don’t deal exclusively with divorce circumstances. They also protect individual assets in the case of deaths.”
Julia Savage, who practices family law in Warrenton, » agrees.
“Some feel the contract implies a hesitancy of one of the partners about the marriage. But premarital agreements are necessary for more than divorce,” she says.
Hobert says that, although typically unnecessary for a first marriage, the contracts are often engaged when children from a prior marriage are involved.
“That’s probably the most common situation we see," he explains.
In that case, the contract usually specifies certain assets, monetary or proprietary, which cannot be reached by the new spouse on the dissolution of the marriage, by divorce or death.
A spouse may claim a percentage of the deceased partner’s estate, Hobert says, even if it is not specified in the will. Parents in second marriages will specify exactly what cannot be inherited by the new spouse.
Savage adds, “. . . - A premarital contract can be particularly important in the unfortunate case of the simultaneous
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